Celtics journal: Bombing heroes honored at Garden

BOSTON — It was Game Three of the Celtics’ first-round series against the Knicks on Friday night, but it was also the team’s first game home at TD Garden since the Boston Marathon bombings.With 11 days...

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TIM BRITTON and KEVIN McNAMARA
Posted Apr. 26, 2013 @ 9:18 pm

BOSTON — It was Game Three of the Celtics’ first-round series against the Knicks on Friday night, but it was also the team’s first game home at TD Garden since the Boston Marathon bombings.

With 11 days separating the initial bombings and this return home, the Celtics took a more understated approach in their pregame ceremonies than either the Bruins or the Red Sox.

Before the game, the color guard consisted of members of the Boston Fire Department, Police Department and Emergency Medical Services. During the national anthem, performed by the Massachusetts Army National Guard’s Voices of Freedom, a montage of images from the marathon played on the videoboard.

The tributes didn’t end there.

At the game’s first timeout, another montage on the board showcased images of city landmarks mixed in with “Boston Strong” and President Barack Obama’s line, “It should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it. Not here in Boston. Not here in Boston.”

Every home game at the Garden includes a “Hero among us” honored at the end of the first quarter. On Friday night, after a fortnight that hammered that point home, the Celtics invited their largest contingent of “Heroes among us” yet.

The Celtics honored dozens of those involved in the bombings and the eventual apprehension of the suspects, headlined by Governor Deval Patrick. Honorees also included members of the FBI, the Massachusetts State Police, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, Boston Police Department, Watertown Police Department, Cambridge Police Department and Boston Marathon volunteers.

The Garden crowd responded with a prolonged standing ovation that eventually morphed into chants of “U-S-A!”

Before the game, Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, himself the son of a police officer, was looking forward to honoring the first responders.

“They’ve been through a lot,” said Rivers. “They can’t get enough support.”

Terrible turnovers

If there was one negative development that the Celtics clearly felt they can fix in Games Three and Four in Boston, it’s turnovers. Or at least that was the plan.

Without Rajon Rondo initiating the offense, the Celts were very sloppy in the first two games and susceptible to pressure. The Celts averaged 16.5 turnovers in their two losses in New York, so Rivers took a major step toward solving that problem by juggling his starting lineup with Jason Terry joining Avery Bradley in the backcourt and Brandon Bass moving to the bench.

The move didn’t pay instant dividends, however. The Celts played horrifically in the first half, digging a 47-31 hole. The team’s nine turnovers (for 14 New York points) stood out like sore thumbs. Paul Pierce and Jeff Green were both sloppy with the ball after being asked to create too much on offense.

Knicks calm

The Knicks say they weren’t getting overly excited with a 2-0 series lead entering Game Three and appreciate that winning a playoff game in Boston will take a much more complete effort.

“We’ve done what we were supposed to do at home and won our two games, but we still have a long ways to go in this series,” said Knicks’ coach Mike Woodson. “Every game is important.”

Carmelo Anthony

Hurt players

The NBA is seemingly losing its star power by the week.

In the Eastern Conference, the Bulls again look like a challenger but they can’t beat Miami without the point guard play of Derrick Rose (knee). The Pacers are a threat but would dearly like the services of injured forward Danny Granger. Out West, the Lakers lost Kobe Bryant (Achilles) in the final two weeks of the regular season and are now long shots to survive a first round series with San Antonio.Russell Westbrook